Tick Tock
by shield.of.agents
Summary: Timer AU. Beca and Jesse are best friends at high school. When Beca's soulmate timer hits zero, there's a big shock for her. It's the first day of college and she runs into not one person, but three. And they're all girls. Eventual Bechloe and Staubrey.
1. Time is ticking

"Beca! Wake Up! Gotta big day today!"

"What big day?" Beca moaned, blearily, "Why is it a big- Oh shit!"

Beca sat up suddenly, and banged her head on the ceiling.

"Ow, fuck. Stupid bunk bed."

She slipped her dressing-gown on, and ran downstairs, still rubbing her head.

As soon as Beca was fully conscious, she began to feel excited. This was it. Today was the day she got her timer.

The timers, were all anybody had talked about for weeks. They were a small device embedded in the wrist, which counted down. They counted down to the exact moment that you met your soulmate.

Some guy in 1950 had tried to make a clock which counted down the days until you die. However, he accidentally made a soulmate timer instead.

Beca Mitchell was in her last year of highschool. It was January 19th, and her year was going to have their timers placed in.

She ran into the school looking for her best friend. Suddenly, she spotted him by the lockers.

"Jesse! JESSE!" She shouted.

"Alright short-stack, no need to shout!"

"Sorry. Anyway! Today's the day!"

"I don't know what you're so hyped about, anyway. We know who our soulmates are already."

This was kind of true. Jesse and Beca had known each other since kindergarten. Everyone assumed that they would be the others soulmate. Beca, didn't feel the spark between them though.

But still, she was excited. Just the prospect of having someone to share her life with, was amazing. She couldn't wait.

The line was alphabetical. Beca sent Jesse a sympathetic smile, as he wouldn't be getting his done until the end of S.

"Beca Mitchell?"

Now it was _her_ turn. She stopped feeling sorry for Jesse, and started to feel a little nervous for herself.

"Are you feeling okay love?" The nurse asked with a smile.

"Yeah, just nervous."

The nurse nodded and said, "This will hurt for a few seconds okay?"

Beca just sat still, as a hot pain pierced her wrist for a short time, not even gasping.

"You're all done!" said the nurse, "Wow! You're very lucky! Mine hasn't even gone off yet!"

Beca left the room, without looking at her wrist. She ran outside, and took a deep breath. She had promised Jesse that she wouldn't look until he got there.

Half an hour passed, until Beca heard her name being called. She looked up, and Jesse was standing next to her.

"They...They haven't gone off." He mumbled.

"I didn't really think they would." Beca admitted.

"You didn't? Oh, thank god! Neither did I, but I didn't want to say anything!"

"Shall we look together?" Beca said. He nodded.

"Three. Two. One."

 **7 months, 6 days, 18 hours, 42 minutes, 24 seconds.**

"Oh my god! Only seven months!" yelled Beca. "Result! Hey, what does yours say?"

Jesse looked amazed. He slowly turned over his wrist to let Beca see. She gasped.

 **17 hours, 23 minutes, 15 seconds.**

"But...That's tomorrow!"

Jesse nodded, still dumbfounded.

That night, when she got home, Beca set up her computer, and worked out when her timer would go off.

August 24th, 12:16pm.

She rang up Jesse, but her good mood lessened when he said, "But Beca, that's the first day of College. You're gonna meet them at lunch in front of everyone."


	2. What if they don't like me?

**0 hours, 2 minutes, 12 seconds.**

Beca and Jesse were walking to school, with Jesse in his best shirt and jeans, hair spiked up nicely.

He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, and kept saying, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

"Jesse seriously! That's really annoying. I don't even know why you got dressed up!"

Seeing as they'd met everyone in school, Beca and Jesse had assumed that it was someone they knew. And if it was someone they knew, Jesse had already made an impression.

"Yeah, but Becs, I'm so excited! I feel like I could do anything right now!"

He started running and jumping, laughing hysterically.

"Jesse, your timer is gonna go off any second! Come back!"

But Jesse just turned to face her and ran backwards.

"Beca, you don't understand what this is like! This is amaz-Oompf!"

Jesse had ran backwards into someone. Then two beeps went off simultaneously.

Jesse untangled his limbs from the person on the ground and stood up.

"Shit, I'm so sorry-Wait. Benji?!"

The person Jesse had ran into, was his other best friend, Benjamin Applebottom.

"Oh hey Jesse. I kinda figured it would be you."

"What the fuck? You're my soulmate?!"

"Well...yeah. Unless this thing is stupid, I'd say so." Benji held up his still beeping wrist.

Meanwhile, Beca was laughing her ass off at Jesse dumbfounded expression.

"Benji, let me explain." she said, "He didn't know he was queer."

Benji's expression cleared. "Oh right! Well that explains a lot! Come with me, and I'll tell you some stuff."

Jesse finally started to laugh too, as he was dragged into school by Benji.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Benji and Jesse were the talk of the school for the next few days. Apart from Emily Junk and Luke Morgan, they were the fastest to have their timers go off.

Jesse finally accepted that he was bisexual, and was spending so much time with Benji, that Beca rarely saw him.

This made her look at her wrist more and more, waiting for her day to come.

 **7 months, 0 weeks, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.**

Beca drank to herself, as the timer hit 7 months.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

She was with Jesse when her timer was about to hit 5 months. She had managed to drag him away from his love sessions with Benji for half an hour, to count down with her.

 **5 months, 0 weeks, 0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute, 48 seconds.**

"Jesse. What if they don't like me?" Beca voiced a concern that had been plaguing her mind for several weeks.

"Beca, he's your soulmate. He's gonna love you."

"Don't say he." Beca said quickly. "You didn't know your soulmate was a boy. Mine could be anything."

"Okay. Until we know for sure, I'll call them, they."

"Thanks."

Jesse looked over, and saw that Beca still had her brow furrowed.

"Beca. Stop worrying. Somewhere, your soulmate is counting down too. You'll meet them, and they'll love you."

"Ten."

"Nine."

"Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

5 months.

5 months until Beca met her soulmate. She hoped she'd make a good impression.


	3. Falling for you

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit."

It was the first day of College, and Jesse was round in Beca's dorm, helping her choose an outfit, and the right amount of makeup to wear.

Jesse shook his head, laughing. "Beca. It'll be fine! Just be yourself, and they'll like you for it!"

"I hope so." Beca held up her red flannel. "How's that, with these jeans?"

Jesse nodded, and said, "I would make out with you, wearing that."

Beca slapped his arm and said, "No! You have a boyfriend now!"

"I know, I know! Just saying!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Beca couldn't concentrate all through her first few periods. Even though it was the first day, she wasn't listening to a word her professors said.

Halfway through philosophy, an idea hit her. As soon as the class was over she rang Jesse.

" _Hey!"_

" _Becs, what's up?"_

" _I've been thinking."_

" _You know that's bad for you, right?"_

" _Shut up. Anyway, I was thinking that I don't want to meet my soulmate in front of everyone at lunch."_

" _Okay…"_

" _So, what if I don't go!"_

" _Beca, that's nonsense."_

" _No it isn't! A timer has never changed it's countdown in the history of forever. So, whatever choices I make, it will go off. Logically, if I don't go to lunch, and just sit in a classroom or something, I will still meet my soulmate."_

" _I guess that makes sense."_

" _That's why I'm just gonna sit in the courtyard, and wait."_

" _You're crazy, you know that right?"_

" _Yeah."_

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

So, that's how Beca ended up walking towards the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. There were people everywhere, and Beca couldn't help but think that any one of them could be _the_ one.

There were some girls playing American football, some kids studying, some eating under a tree, and of course there were some stoners.

Beca was watching her timer, her chest tightening, her breaths becoming rapid.

 **0 months, 0 weeks, 0 day, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 12 seconds.**

She looked up, and suddenly everything happened at once.

A tall, black-haired girl was walking closer, her eyes scanning the courtyard rapidly.

An uptight looking blonde girl said goodbye to her study group and started to run, heading to the lunch hall.

A redheaded girl went to catch a football, flying through the air.

And then, they all collided. The redhead slammed into the black-haired girl, and the blonde girl ran into them both, and then they all fell into Beca, and into the fountain.

Four beeps rang out, in perfect synchrony.


	4. Well, I'm up for a foursome

**So, in this Au, I've made everyone freshmen, because it fits in more with the story.**

The redhead was the first to speak.

"Well. This is wetter than I imagined."

Beca let out a snort and stood up. They had drawn the eye of everyone in the courtyard.

"NOTHING TO SEE HERE PEOPLE!" she yelled. She only stopped glaring at everyone, when they had started to walk on again.

Seeing that the others showed no signs of moving, so she helped the redhead up, then the tall one, then the blonde one.

They all stepped out of the fountain, and Beca said, "Right. So here's an idea. We all go back to our dorms, and get dry and clean, and meet in my dorm in an hour. We'll have more time talking by then, okay?"

She gave them all her dorm details, and walked away.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

In one hour, when Beca was changed into the only other nice outfit she owned, she heard a knock on the door.

She scrambled to answer it, and all three other girls were there.

When they were all sat down, Beca said, "Hey. So I figured we should take it in turns to talk, as I have a fuck-ton of questions, and I reckon you do too."

The others nodded, the redhead smiling, the blonde looking confused, and the tall one looking confident.

"So, I'm Beca, I'm a freshman, and I didn't know I was queer. Next?"

The tall one spoke, "Hey, I'm Stacie, I'm also a freshman, and I didn't realise either."

"Wait." said Beca, "Sorry, but you're a freshman? You're like 7ft!"

"I'm not _that_ tall, you're just short. Anyway, who's next?"

Next, the blonde one. "I'm Aubrey Posen, freshman, and I thought I was straight."

Finally the ginger, "Wassup, I'm Chloe, and I was 99% sure that I was as straight as a curly fry."

Everyone gaped, until Beca laughed, and said, "Well, that makes one lesbian, and three who-knows-what-sexualities-we-are."

"But guys," Stacie said, "Onto the more pressing matter. Why are there four of us! Is no one else weirded out by that? I mean, I'd be totally up for a foursome but-"

She was cut off by Aubrey saying, "Well I wouldn't!"

"Me neither." said Beca quickly.

"I dunno, you're all pretty beautiful…" said Chloe, smiling until Aubrey threw her a sharp look, "But, no! That would be terrible." The effect was ruined slightly, by the wink at the end.

"Anyway, I think the result is going to have to be pairs." said Aubrey.

"Well duh, but how do we know who goes with who?" said Stacie.

"We don't." chimed in Beca, "We just have to take it in turns, I guess."

"Cool." said Chloe, "How are we gonna do it?"

Aubrey started to talk very fast, "We will have to make each combination systematically, I will make a table and we can trial each pair-"

"Beca and Stacie can start off, and I'll go with Aubrey." said Chloe, cutting off the disgruntled blonde. "Shall we do it for two weeks?"

"Yeah, I guess." said Beca.

"Okay, cool." said Stacie, reaching for her phone. "Blonde, Red, gimme your numbers, and then bugger off. I wanna be alone with Becs now."

"That...sounded a little menacing. Maybe tone it down a notch, huh Stace?" said Beca with a grin.

"Whatever you say, _sweetie._ " Stacie said grinning.


	5. Stacie and Beca

**If anyone is confused, I didn't like the original version of this chapter, so I started again.**

Beca woke up to a knock on the door. She knew who it would be before she opened it.

"Hey babe." said Stacie, walking in with a grocery bag.

"Stace, I told you to stop with the pet-names!" said Beca exasperatedly. "They're really creepy."

"Oh right, yeah. Sorry." said Stacie smirking. "Anyway, I bought waffles!"

"Awesome! Can we have them now?" asked Beca.

"Yeah sure. Then if you're not too tired, we can get down to business, if you know what I mean."

"Yes Stacie, everyone on the planet knows what you mean. And also, I told you, no sex before lunch!"

"Aw but Beca!" Stacie whined.

"No." said Beca firmly.

Instead, they just sat on the sofa, and ate waffles. They usually had the best converstations as they ate, and today was no exception.

"You know, you're completely different to how I first thought you'd be." said Stacie.

"How so?" asked Beca, her mouth full of waffle.

"Well, you seem like the sort of person who would wait until they found _the one_ until they have sex, or whatever, and that you'd want to talk about feelings all the time."

"Nah." said Beca, "I hate feelings. They get in the way of clear thinking and being sarcastic."

Stacie laughed and said, "How did you think I would be, just by looking at me?"

"Well for a start, I thought you'd be a wuss. But that wrestling arena we went to, proved otherwise." she chuckled, "You really messed up that guy's face."

They laughed for a while, and then Stacie said suddenly, "Hey Beca, do you think we're soulmates?"

Beca sat up quickly. _Where had that come from?_ she thought. But then she sighed.

"If I'm completely honest with myself, no, I don't think so. You're really funny, and I like you a lot, and sure I would date you, but no. There isn't the spark I want."

"I get the same feeling. I mean, for a shorty, you give as good as you get, but it's just not right. Wait!" She suddenly sat up straight, "I have an idea. Why don't we be best friends?"

"I've never had a girl best friend before." said Beca.

"Me neither! How about it?" she held out her hand.

"You're so weird." said Beca, and shook it.

 **Hi guys. I'm sorry this took so long, cause it's half-term, I've been working for the last four days straight, so this was a quick chapter. Hopefully, Chloe and Aubrey's week will be soon. Also,** **sugarlandaddict23** **,** **this chapter is for you, I hope you like it more than the last one.**

 **Anyway, a question for all of you. Tell me in the review, whether you found this fic from the ffn website or from tumblr. Just really curious.**

 **Much Love.**


	6. Chloe and Aubrey

**Trigger warning. Mentions of self-harm. It doesn't go into detail, just mentions it.**

"Chloe Beale, you monster!" Aubrey squealed in glee, as another piece of popcorn landed in her mouth.

"How are you doing that?" The blonde said, finally getting up.

For the last 20 minutes, Chloe and Aubrey had been 20 feet apart, with Chloe chucking popcorn into Aubrey's mouth.

Chloe shrugged. "I have a little brother who I would practice on. He was good at sitting still."

Aubrey laughed, and Chloe marveled at how wrong she'd been about the girl.

At a first glance, Aubrey seemed uptight, strict and sensible. But once you got to know her, you could see that she wasn't a terrible bore after all.

In the first few days, they'd made out a bit, even went to dinner, but they both decided that the relationship wasn't for them.

Still, Chloe liked Aubrey. She picked the best places to have fun. They'd been to a bar, and had a karaoke competition, much to the enjoyment of Chloe's friend Cynthia-Rose.

They'd been bowling, where Aubrey had taken too much fun in beating Chloe.

They'd even been rollerblading, and had a laugh watching a girl called Flo fall over and over, and then went and had ice cream with her. But there was no sexual tension between them.

Chloe enjoyed Aubrey's company because she would make sure the redhead wouldn't do anything _too_ stupid, and would get her home safely after a night of drunken madness.

Aubrey liked Chloe's company because she could let her hair down a little, and have a good time.

"Hey Bree?" Chloe said, using the nickname she had adopted for the blonde, "You know you have that Beca girl next?"

"Yeah?"

"First impressions?" First impressions was a game Chloe and Aubrey had started to play when they met someone new. They hadn't talked about the other two girls though yet.

Aubrey sat up. "Hmm, that's a hard one. Well she told me about sitting in the courtyard because she didn't want to meet her soulmate in front of everyone at lunch, and she knew it would happen no matter what she did. She's logical, I like that."

"What else?" asked Chloe eagerly.

"She's very no nonsense, deals with things quickly. But she seems like an antisocial, kind of emo girl. I don't get the impression that she has a lot of friends. Plus, she swears a lot, and she's tiny."

Chloe nodded. "All good points, but she _does_ laugh at my jokes."

"Well that's another strike against her then." said Aubrey with a laugh, while Chloe hit her with a cushion. "How about Stacie?"

Chloe shrugged. "Well, she seems like a laugh, but a bit _too_ sexual. I think maybe she was bullied in secondary, maybe high school, was a bit of a nerd, but changed her image completely. Also, her mom left when she was 13-14."

Aubrey scowled. "You're so much better at this than me. How do you do it?"

"A mixture of being able to tell emotions, taking psychology, and seeing faint scars on her thigh."

Aubrey gaped. "Oh my god. She's so confident though!"

"Yeah, I'm guessing after she remodeled herself, people started liking her more, and she became a mini Cordelia Chase."

"Who's that?" asked Aubrey, confused.

Chloe sighed. "Oh my dear Aubrey. You have a lot to learn."

 **Hey guys! I've been really busy with school at the moment, and I haven't had time to write much. Also, I've been focusing on my Skimmons fanfic because I haven't updated that in like forever. Next up, Beca and Aubrey! Should be interesting.**

 **Much Love**


	7. Aubrey, Beca and a new club

"BECA!" Aubrey shouted.

"I SWEAR TO THE POWERS THAT BE, THAT IF YOU LEAVE YOUR SHOES IN FRONT OF THE DOOR ONCE MORE, I WILL CRUSH YOUR TINY BODY!"

Beca sighed, and pulled herself off the sofa. "Okay, okay, they're just shoes. Oh, and I see Chloe has been informing you about Buffy. Who's your fave?" she said, picking up her shoes, and slumping back down.

"Well," said Aubrey sitting next to her, "I really love Tara, because she's so bright and cheery all the time, but Anya is quite funny."

"Wait, where are you up to?" said Beca worriedly.

"I'm just about to start season 6. Why?"

"No reason." said Beca smirking to herself.

Aubrey and Beca's conversations usually went along these lines. They'd argue about something tiny, and then discuss whatever came into their minds. Chloe kept commenting that they were like a married couple.

However, just like Chloe and Aubrey, they quickly found that there was no attraction between them.

Aubrey had asked all of them to meet in her room, and Chloe and Stacie were just about to arrive.

"So Bree, what's this all about?"

Aubrey just remained secretive.

When Chloe and Stacie turned up, she spilled the beans.

"The other day, I overheard some girls talking about us. And being the nosy person I am, I listened in. To put a long story short, most people think we're all weirdo lesbians who are in a foursome."

"Well they got two out of three." said Stacie, smirking.

Aubrey glared at her. "My point is, I think we need to do something outside of just hanging around each other. I was looking into some clubs we could do, and I found one that was disbanded a few years ago."

Beca and Stacie looked at each other uneasily, but Chloe was looking eager.

"It was called the Barden Bellas, and they were an all girl acapella group. It was disbanded two years ago because some girl puked on stage but I think we should set it up again."

Everyone sat in silence. This was not what Beca had imagined.

Seeing everyone's dumbfounded expressions, Aubrey said exasperatedly, "Look, you don't have to, but I know I can sing, and Chloe came to a karaoke bar with me, so I know she can as well. Also your mate C-R can sing too right Chlo?"

Chloe nodded. "Well actually Aubrey, I think that's a great idea."

"That's good because I already cleared it with the principal. Stacie, Beca how about you?"

Stacie nodded. "Yeah I might as well come to auditions." Seeing Aubrey's look, she added, "I'm not gonna help you guys run it, I'm taking too many courses."

"Becs?" said Aubrey.

Beca sat back and crossed her arms. "Firstly, don't call me Becs. Secondly, I don't sing."

Aubrey looked mildly disappointed, but happy about her choices.

"Right Chlo, we need to get organising. Also Stacie, auditions are on November 5th. Beca you look like an unhappy mushroom, put a smile on."

And with that, Chloe and Aubrey left the room, leaving a stubborn looking Beca, and a laughing Stacie behind.

 **What, you didn't think I'd leave the Bellas out did you? Next up, Stacie and Chloe! That one should be interesting.**


End file.
